The character of a dispensation may be gathered by considering its sphere,
whether earth, heaven, or far above all, the company blessed, whether a
nation, a kingdom or a church, and the character of a dispensation can also
be estimated by the kind of blessings that belong to it. We can assess fairly
accurately the calling of Israel as we read Deuteronomy 28.

‘Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the
field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy
ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the
flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store’ (Deut.
28:3-5).

There is not the slightest warrant today that a Christian farmer can
claim these blessings. It would be impossible and undispensational to
attempt to gauge the spiritual stature of a Christian farmer or business
man to-day by the number of his cattle, or by the stock he carries in
his store. Indeed the reverse might well be the true gauge, that as a
man’s spiritual life developed, so there would be every possibility that
his bank balance would decrease. The word translated blessing in the New
Testament is the Greek eulogia,
a word that means primarily ‘to eulogize or to speak well’ of anyone.
Although the number of occurrences exceeds our limit (ten) by but one,
we will provide a concordance to all these references.

Eulogia ‘Blessing’.

Rom.
15:29.

‘The
fulness of the blessing’.

1
Cor. 10:16.

‘The
cup of blessing’.

Gal.
3:14.

‘The
blessing of Abraham’.

Eph.
1:3.

‘All
spiritual blessings’.

Heb.
6:7.

‘The
earth ... receiveth blessing’.

Heb.
12:17.

‘He
would have inherited the blessing’.

Jas.
3:10.

‘Out
of the same ... proceedeth blessing’.

1
Pet. 3:9.

‘That
ye should inherit a blessing’.

Rev.
5:12,13; 7:12.

‘Blessing’
ascribed to the Lord.

Eulogia occurs in all, eighteen
times, translated blessing, bounty, bountifully and fair speeches. The
concordance given is limited to the translation ‘blessing’.

The two references that stand out from this list, and reveal themselves
as markers of dispensational import are Galatians 3:14 and Ephesians 1:3.
Under Galatians 3:14 it is clear that the gospel blessings enjoyed during
the Acts, were not associated with any mystery that had never before been
revealed, but were traceable back to the promise of God made to Abraham.
This is true of the great foundation doctrine of justification by faith.
When we turn however to Ephesians 1:3, we are presented with an entirely
different and new state of things. While we would not suggest that the
word ‘blessing’ should not be used by us to-day when speaking of the glorious
doctrine of salvation, or the wondrous providence of God, it is nevertheless
true to say that the word is used with some restriction in the New Testament.
Twice of the gospel, once in connection with the Lord’s supper, and once
to describe the blessings that belong to the high calling of the Mystery.

All spiritual blessings. As the
passage stands in the A.V. the word blessing is in the plural, but in
the original it is in the singular. ‘In (or with) every blessing (that
is) spiritual’. The word translated ‘all’ is pas,
and when it is used of one it means ‘the whole’, ‘entire’ or ‘all the
...’ but if pas be used to cover
several items, it means ‘every’. Thus pasa
polis means ‘every city’, pasa
he polis or he pasa polis
‘the whole city’, while he polis pasa
would have a slightly different meaning, either ‘the city, all of it’
or ‘the city, every part’. The Church of the Mystery is ‘blessed with
every blessing that is spiritual’. If the total number of the blessings
with which the Church is blessed were say four or forty - they could still
be defined as ‘all spiritual’ whereas the mind reels in its endeavour
to grasp the fact that there is no blessing
that is spiritual, that is omitted from this gift of grace. We
shall never in this life appreciate or realize a tithe of what is here
so freely bestowed. The word ‘spiritual’ is the Greek word pneumatikos
derived from pneuma ‘spirit’, which
in its turn derives from the root which means ‘breath’, and so is allied
with the Hebrew conception as expressed in the word ruach.
Pneumatikos occurs three times
in Ephesians.

Without the balance that these occurrences provide, we might be tempted
to equate the word ‘spiritual’ with all that is good, but this is rendered
impossible by Ephesians 6:12. We cannot speak of ‘good wickednesses’.
We look therefore in the context for the antonym, and find it in the words
‘flesh and blood’. It is evident therefore in this passage at least, that
the term ‘spiritual’ is used in opposition to the term ‘corporeal’, and
this is what we find elsewhere. ‘For we know that the law is spiritual
(pneumatikos): but I am carnal
(sarkinos)’ (Rom. 7:14). ‘For if
the.65 Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual
things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal
things’ (Rom. 15:27). ‘The natural man (psuchikos)
... but he that is spiritual (pneumatikos)’
(1 Cor. 2:14,15). ‘It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
body’ (1 Cor. 15:44). It is evident from this usage that ‘spiritual blessings’
are supernatural blessings, far above such things as ‘basket and store’.
Blessings for our pilgrimage are comparable with the guarantee to Israel
while journeying to Canaan, that the manna should not fail them nor should
their shoes wax old, but these pilgrim mercies are not included in ‘every
blessing that is spiritual’, that is to confound the manna of the wilderness,
with the old corn of the land (Josh. 5:11,12).

A confirmation of this peculiar nature of ‘every spiritual blessing’
is found in the added clause ‘in heavenly places’. This is the sphere
in which they are bestowed and to be enjoyed. In an orderly exposition
we should now proceed to expound what these words mean, and should also
be obliged to go on and consider the bearing of Ephesians 1:4, ‘before
the foundation of the world’ has upon that unique character. These considerations,
however, in this Analysis must be deferred and dealt with in their place,
and the reader will find them dealt with under the heading HEAVENLY
PLACES and FOUNDATION
OF THE WORLD. Suffice it for the moment to conclude that the blessings
of Ephesians 1:3 are unique both in their character,
spiritual, their sphere, in heavenly
places, and their inception, before
the foundation of the world.